I’m not proud to say I let my son watch too much TV. To assuage my pangs of guilt for lazy parenting, I turned to Google to soothe myself. Surely I’m not the only one. The internet did not disappoint. Who would guess that the average American child aged 2 to 5 watches 32 hours of television a week? Seriously. When do those average children eat? In front of the TV set presumably. Anyway, it made me feel a little better. Plus the reassuring fact that so far, Sasha doesn’t seem to be lacking developmentally.
I was having a laundry room chat with a neighbor, a mother of 2 young boys. I complained that the child care room at the Y has a TV blaring at all times of day, with the children watching in a gape-mouthed stupor. She agreed this was terrible, and said, “As a parent, I’ll be the one to say when you can watch TV: when I need to get something done!”
But lest I judge the harried parent, sometimes all that TV time is worth it just to hear the things that come out of his mouth. After watching Toy Story 15-plus times, the Bub has memorized quite a bit of dialogue. I was changing his diaper the other day, when he looks around the room and says to me, “There seems to be no sign of intelligent life.”
A short time later (after I finally stopped laughing), he looked out the window and announced, “I see a sign of intelligent life!” Surprised, I walked over to the window where he pointed out the stop sign outside of our building.
He also makes the toy pig yell at me, “Give me all your money!” This is immediately followed by a round of kisses for everyone. I didn’t get it until I saw the scene: the bank robber pig demands all your money and then greedily kisses all the coins that cascade around him. Money lover or just plain lover, it’s all the same to Sasha.
And to make TV matters worse, Toy Story is a Disney/Pixar movie. This means we’ve bought hook, line, and sinker into licensed merchandise. How can I deny him the unending pleasures that come with sippy cups and underwear featuring Buzz Lightyear and Woody cowboy? I’m a sucker!
Plus, I figure the central conceit of Toy Story—that toys come to life when you’re not around—is enhanced by having toys that exactly resemble the ones in the movie. Toys have a life of their own and love to be played with and tossed about and want to go everywhere you go? What a great concept for a little kid just beginning to make sense of the world around him.
OMG, there seems to be signs of very intelligent life in little Sasha! Don't sweat the small stuff, he'll grow up just fine with all the love he has from his moms and his extended family. Your awareness of the time he spends in front of the TV puts him head and shoulders above many other kids.
ReplyDeleteDitto what Monica says. At least you don't just hand over the remote control and say "Help yourself!" And what a hoot about "There seems to be no sign of intelligent life." In a few years you can have a deep philosophical discussion with him about THAT!! And then you can tell him that STOP signs are not signs of intelligent life, but put in by people too cheap to put in round-abouts!! ha ha. And what does Mamu google about? alo to all of you!
ReplyDeleteHmmmm. Better start thinking about his Halloween costome;-) I'm going with Buzz Lightyear!! What's your vote? BTW tell him to run the other way if he encounters intelligent life. Miss you all and wish you'd move to WI and get a house with a small house in back;-)))
ReplyDeleteLove to you all.
Aunt Maureen
In my early parenting days there was only TV. You are lucky to have choices of DVD's, Netflix and Roku! So you can give Sasha better stuff to watch and even enjoy it with him. And in the playground yesterday who would want to miss him approaching another kid with one of his Buzz Lightyear figures saying "I am Buzz Lightyear- I come in peace!"
ReplyDeleteAnd besides, when would the blog get written??
What a great story about you and Sasha (and Buzz Lightyear) at the park, Lynn! And Wisco, I misread your comment about googling. I first thought you wrote that you googled while he watched TV, but no, you were googling about kids watching TV. Got it! And the Bub takes his "TV" experience into real life so that's a good thing. Ya know, he's not watching that shopping channel, dialing them up and ordering Toy Story merchandise!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Buzz Lightyear might be just the right thing for Halloween. Assuming he hasn't moved on. Beloved Elmo got tossed to the curb so fast it made my head spin.
ReplyDeleteLynn, I didn't hear that story. I love it!
That shopping channel scenario can't be too far away. He can use the remote controls already, and he loves to dig through our wallets, so putting the two together isn't too big a leap (at least in my imagination).